Contrary to earlier days, Windows Life Cycle Planning now differs for clients and servers and this could be a major cause of worry for some administrators and consultants who may find this all quite chaotic. Previously, after a Windows version was released, Microsoft provided mainstream support of five years to it. Extended support of another five years provided updates as documented in Windows Lifecycle fact sheet. This has however changed now as it is noted that Windows End of Life (EOL) dates for Windows updates now differs for servers and clients.

Exceptions in 18 months support to Windows 10

According to Microsoft, there should be 18 months support for updates to Windows 10 build, after which the users will have to update to the newer build. There are however many exceptions to this now as some continued to receive updates even after the 18 month mark.

Windows 10 Version 1507 – This Windows 10 RTM version will not be getting any more updates and has been out of support since quite long. However Windows 10 Enterprise V1507 LTCS installations are supported until 2025.

Windows 10 Version 1511 – This version was discontinued in October 2015, however Enterprise and Education editions in this version reportedly still received security updates six months after its discontinuation as well.

Windows 10 Version 1607 – A version no longer supported, however Enterprise and Education editions continue to receive security updates for six months after. Regarding this version, Microsoft Support official page mentioned distinctly that even though quality and security updates will no longer be supported by Home or Pro Editions, however Enterprise and Education editions will continue to receive six months of additional servicing free of cost.

Systems with Clovertrail CPU will also continue to receive updates until 2023 whereas LTSC versions will continue to receive support until 2026.

This revelation would definitely cause some problem for administrators and consultants who would find that servers and clients will now be expiring differently. They would need to look towards each version’s end of life cycle and read all the information provided by Microsoft to understand the release cycles better.

Maira is a system analyst for the last 10 years. She likes to explore, experience and understand new technologies shaping the future. She was a key member of the MUM "Mera Urdu Messenger"s (R&D) team, the first ever Urdu messenger released by CRI in the 90s.